Schlichter Bogard Obtains Class Certification in Anthem 401(k) Case

On January 24, 2019, an Indiana federal judge certified two subclasses of Anthem 401(k) retirement plan participants, allowing the plaintiffs to proceed with their excessive fee claims on a class-wide basis.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt had previously ruled that claims that the plan’s administrators imprudently included a money market fund in the plan could proceed as a class.

In the case, plaintiffs, represented by Schlichter Bogard & Denton, allege that the various defendants offered investment options that charged unreasonable fees, didn’t control the administrative expenses that were paid to vendors and didn’t adequately monitor the money market fund, among other things. The Anthem plan at issue in the case is one of the largest in the United States, with over $5 billion in assets as of year-end 2014.

“We are pleased that the court has now fully granted our request for class certification and look forward to taking the case to trial in a few weeks to recover compensation for the losses Anthem employees and retirees sustained from their retirement assets,” said Jerome J. Schlichter of Schlichter Bogard & Denton, class counsel for the participants.

Coverage of this story can be found here and here. For additional information about Schlichter Bogard & Denton’s ERISA and Financial Abuse practice, please contact Schlichter Bogard & Denton at 1-800-873-5297 or sbd@uselaws.com.